Secret Service
by Eryndil
Summary: What did Josef do during the war?


Title: Secret Service

Rating: T

Warning: Some violence, fairly mild

Pairing: None

Spoilers: Episode 15 (_What's Left Behind)_

Disclaimer:The series Moonlight and all characters from it are copyright of Warner Bros. I have no claim to any rights to the series (if I had, there would be a huge range of Moonlight merchandise). This story is written for non commercial purposes only and no copyright infringement is intended.

Author Note: I was watching _What's Left Behind_ and wondering what Josef did during the war. So this is the crazy idea that came to mind. It's totally ridiculous but I enjoyed writing it :)

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Chapter 1

"So…'GI Mick', was that a purple heart you were holding yesterday?"

Josef took a sip from his glass and ran the smooth liquid over his tongue before lifting an ironic eyebrow at his friend.

Mick winced slightly and groaned internally. He had expected this question – Josef had a knack for raising uncomfortable topics – but he wasn't in the mood to talk about his wartime experiences right now. He poured himself some more whiskey in the somewhat forlorn hope that Josef might be put off by the lack of response.

"It's just that I know you haven't kept much from your life pre-turning, so I assume this has some kind of significance for you."

Mick sighed. Four hundred years and Josef still hadn't learned how to take a hint.

"Want to tell me about it?"

"Not particularly."

Some people might find it strange that, in half a century of friendship, they had never discussed this subject, but Mick tended to avoid talking about his life as a human. Besides, the guilty feelings that coloured his memories of Ray and Lilah made this particular story too painful to share – until recently, anyway.

Josef was still looking over at him, clearly not about to give up so easily. He was used to getting his own way and sometimes you just had to accept the inevitable. Time for show and tell.

The account that Mick gave was a very abbreviated version of what he had told Beth the day before, without any of the personal details. Instead, he focussed on his time in Italy and the attack that left him wounded.

Josef was uncharacteristically quiet as he listened to his friend's story. When it ended, he seemed to be lost in thought, and the two of them sat in silence for a while. Mick refilled both their glasses and took another mouthful of the single malt. He remembered the day that Beth had given him the bottle as a thank you present. That was before she found out what he was but, fortunately, vampires could drink whiskey – and this was a particularly fine one.

Eventually, Josef looked up from where he had been contemplating his own glass and gave his usual impudent smirk.

"So it sounds like you had quite an interesting time during the war," he remarked.

"That's one way of putting it," Mick replied dryly. Then, as another thought occurred to him, he added, "You know, you've never talked about what _you_ did in the war."

His friend gave him a sardonic look. No doubt Josef had been doing what he normally did – making money, enjoying his freshies and keeping out of trouble.

"Well…" the older vampire drawled with a mischievous glint in his eyes, "I don't think I can tell you about it. That information is still classified so I'd probably have to kill you if you found out."

Mick stared at him for a moment then frowned. "Well, if you don't want to tell me the truth…" He shrugged dismissively and got up to put his glass in the sink, annoyed that Josef was feeding him such a line of bull.

"That _is_ the truth, Mick."

"Oh come on, that's ridiculous," Mick objected. "You're trying to suggest that you were involved with some kind of… what, secret intelligence work in the war? You can't expect me to believe that!"

When no answer came, he looked over at his friend again. Josef was staring straight ahead, his eyes unfocussed as if he was lost in thought… or memory.

ITALY 1944

"_You can't expect me to believe that."_

Josef looked up at the thick-headed sergeant standing in front of him and gritted his teeth in irritation. It was times like these that made him wonder why he had ever allowed himself to get mixed up in this crazy human war…


End file.
